Lesley L. Smith has collected a plethora of degrees including a M.S. and a Ph.D. in elementary particle physics. She recently completed her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University.

She has had a variety of scientific jobs including investigating quarks, dark matter, extrasolar planets, clouds, atmospheric chemistry and climate change. She currently works on a NASA project which is part of the Earth Observing System.

She's strongly committed to helping people from underrepresented groups succeed in science, participating in programs such as Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Lesley's short fiction has been published in several venues including "Analog Science Fiction and Fact" and Nano Meets Macro. Her story "Footsteps of Fear" won Honorable Mention in the first 2010 quarter of the Writers of the Future contest. She is a member of the Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW).

She is a founder and editor of the speculative fiction ezine Electric Spec (www.electricspec.com). She enjoys blogging about writing and speculative fiction (electricspec.blogspot.com, setonhillwriters.blogspot.com).

She also enjoys giving presentations about writing, science, and speculative fiction. For example, in September 2011 she was a panelist for "Short Story Critique Workshop" and "Literature and Liquor" at RMFW's Colorado Gold conference 2011. In October 2011 she was on the panels "Why Do Scientists Keep Changing Their Minds?", "Exoplanet Findings","Print, Film & the Future Vision of P.K.Dick", and "A Dazzling Dozen Short Stories" at MileHiCon 2011. In October 2010 she was on the panels "Dystopias in Science Fiction" and "Weird Physics" at MileHiCon 2010. In September 2010 she gave several workshops at RMFW's Colorado Gold conference 2010, including "How to Write Funny" and "Short Story and a Beer".